Day-by-Day Picks

Celebrate the Day of the Dead, Friday at Pirate: A
Contemporary Art Oasis.

Thursday, November 3

When top ski instructor and equipment expert Jeannie Thoren exhorts women to "ski like a girl," she's dead serious: Women's bodies, she reasons, are different from men's and therefore require female-specific ski gear to properly perform on the slopes. Thoren, who's been exploring the subject for more than thirty years, will clue the ladies in on her theories tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the REI flagship store, 1416 Platte Street, during Ski Like a Girl, a social gathering and gear presentation for women skiers, sponsored by Skis Dynastar and Lange Boots. Gals who like what they see are invited to sign up for one-on-one evaluation sessions with Thoren tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the store. Both events are free; for reservations and information, call 303-756-3100 or visit www.rei.com/stores/denverflagship.

Friday, November 4

You just can't wait, can you? Early-season skiing is just the powder on the peaks during Copper Mountain's Lift-Off, an opening-week celebration that begins today at the resort and continues through November 12, with plenty of aprs-ski accompaniments for your autumnal milk run. Along with a flurry of parties, ski movies and a chance to check out the latest equipment at an Early Season Demo Center, Copper will host live bands in Burning Stones Plaza on weekends and sponsor an ongoing Heli-Days competition, during which teams vie for a Canadian Mountain Holidays helicopter skiing/riding trip by frequently skiing Copper slopes throughout the week. That should be easy with a $19 Lift-Off Boarding Pass lift ticket add-on, which allows the resort to track Heli-Days teams and provides free access to all peripheral events. The waiting's over: Call 1-866-841-2481 or go to www.coppercolorado.com for details.

Watch a bunch of youngsters from the Acting Up! drama program take off this weekend when the talented stars of the future perform in Campfire Stories, a literary stage dramatization of four classic short stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe; The Monkey's Paw, by William Wyman Jacobs; The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson; and The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant. Shows, awash in frightful and ironic themes, are at 7:30 p.m. tonight and tomorrow at a grownup venue, the Phoenix Theatre, 1124 Santa Fe Drive; for tickets, $10, call 303-730-8229.

Join in a north Denver tradition tonight when Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis hosts its annual Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead Celebration. One of the town's most time-honored observances of the Hispanic holiday, it's been accompanied by a show of community altars and Day of the Dead-related artworks at Pirate for more than twenty years. The party kicks off tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the gallery, 3659 Navajo Street, when kids are invited to whack a piñata; once the goodies spill, a community candlelight procession and Aztec dance performance will follow. Call 303-456-6058 or go to www.oooandeye.com/artbase/ base_members/pirate.

Saturday, November 5

A charmed life? It happens: Spike-haired Californian Greg Behrendt -- fast-lane rocker, standup comic, author, Sex and the City consultant, Gen-X relationships advisor and family man -- seemingly has done it all, and with panache and success. His best-selling book, He's Just Not That Into You, co-written with his wife, sold its way into sequel territory (It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken: The Smart Girl's Break-Up Buddy is the followup) and might be fodder for a major motion picture. And somehow, even his own personal life changes seem destined to spin gold for the fortyish pop star: Uncool, a comedy-routine-turned-DVD about learning to balance cutting-edge and suburban values, is in development as a television series. Hear Behrendt's comic observations firsthand when he performs this weekend at the Comedy Works, 1226 15th Street. Shows are at 8 and 10 p.m. tonight and 6:30, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. tomorrow; to reserve tickets, $25 to $30, call 303-595-3637. For information, visit www.comedyworks.com.

Sunday, November 6

Halloween's over, Christmas is here. But you can tone down that greed factor so prevalent in the holiday shopping season by eschewing the sturm and bling going on at the malls and shopping meccas. Alternative, free-trade gift shopping is kicking off as well, offering handmade items by international artisans and supported by global human development organizations. Give to your loved ones and give back to society by shopping at the annual Park Hill Congregational Church Alternative Gift Market, beginning today from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and continuing Wednesday and the following weekend at the church, 2600 Leyden Street; for information, call 303-322-9122 or go to www.parkhillchurch.org. And in Arvada, at the Spirit of Christ Catholic Community, 7400 West 80th Avenue, shoppers can catch the last day of a similar Third World Jubilee gift sale, today from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call 303-422-9173.

Monday, November 7

The writing of noted author Joan Didion takes on a deeply personal tenor in her memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, in which she explores the simultaneous death of her husband and hospitalization of her gravely ill daughter in 2003. Didion will discuss and sign copies of the heartbreaking yet clear-eyed National Book Award-nominated account tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Cherry Creek, 2955 East First Avenue; free tickets for a place in line will be handed out beginning at 6:30 p.m. Call 303-322-7727 or log on to www.tatteredcover.com.

Tuesday, November 8

The cinematic facet of the Denver Public Library's novel cultural series, Fresh City Life, throws all care to the wind this fall with its five-film Joyful Noise retrospective of Hollywood musicals. It debuts tonight at 6:30 p.m. with the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers hoofer, Top Hat, a grand old mixture of screwball romance and the old soft shoe. The series continues at the same time on Tuesdays, through December 6, with a decades-spanning selection that includes Singin' in the Rain, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Cabaret and Grease; admission is free. Screenings are at the Denver Central Library, 10 West 14th Avenue Parkway; call 720-865-1206 or visit www.denverlibrary.org/fresh.

Wednesday, November 9

Short films by and for women are in the spotlight at the annual Lunafest Film Festival, presented by LunaBar tonight at 7 p.m. at the Boulder Theater, 2032 14th Street in Boulder. This year's fifth anniversary will be celebrated with a compendium of eight of the best films shown throughout the life of the fest, and it's a spectacular review, covering a variety of feminine themes, from health and sexuality to cultural diversity and environmental concerns. Admission, which benefits the Breast Cancer Fund and the Women's Bean Project, is $10; call 303-786-7030 or go to www.bouldertheater.com. For more information, go to www.lunabar.com/lunafest.

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